


as if i'm in on the joke

by theweightofmywords



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friends With Benefits, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-16
Updated: 2015-10-16
Packaged: 2018-04-26 16:43:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5012161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theweightofmywords/pseuds/theweightofmywords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He never helped her when they were in school, and he knew what she thought of him: Cowardly Blaise Zabini, too pretty, too rich, and too cold-hearted to care.</p>
            </blockquote>





	as if i'm in on the joke

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns these characters. Title taken from Ed Sheeran song, "Cold Coffee."

Blaise lay still in his bed, afraid to move, because if he did, then she might wake, and if she woke, then she’d leave. And Blaise didn’t want her to leave. She had never stayed the night before.

“I’ll owl you,” she’d always say before disappearing into the green flames.

Her hair sprawled red across the pillowcase, as her bare back rose and fell with each breath. Blaise wondered when she’d have to leave for work and debated if he should wake her up. Perhaps if he let her sleep, he could convince her to just owl her boss that she was sick. And then, he could cook her breakfast and convince her to stay for dinner. And maybe then, he could convince her to stay another night, or maybe for good.

Schooling his features into an indecipherable grin, he cleared his mind of those thoughts. Looking at her again, with her freckles and soft lips, her red hair clashing against his green satin pillows, he knew that she’d never stay. She didn’t belong to anyone really, but least of all him.

Two years had passed since the war, and Blaise had taken up the habit of going to muggle bars to people-watch. He had never expected to see her, to watch her dance, her neck exposed as she threw her head back in laughter. She too had developed the habit of exploring the muggle world, apparently. He strode up to her and offered her a drink.

“I’m nothing but a blood traitor, and a filthy one at that, right Zabini?” she had retorted that first night.

“I did what I had to do to survive,” he had answered, tilting his head closer to her ear.

“So did I,” she had said, her impassive face staring up at him.

“We survived,” he had acknowledged.

“That we did,” she had replied, sipping her drink.

“Now, we can live,” he had murmured against her ear. This time, he breathed in her scent, and he knew he wanted more.

That was months ago, and he still wanted more.

But his crimes had been committed when he was a child in a man’s body, spewing things he had heard the adults he trusted recite. And Ginny Weasley had a backbone of steel, and he knew that she didn’t trust him. He was never a Death Eater, but he might as well have been. He never helped her when they were in school, and he knew what she thought of him: Cowardly Blaise Zabini, too pretty, too rich, and too cold-hearted to care.

And though he cared little for anything else in the world, he cared about her. She just always left before he had a chance to show it.


End file.
